Perk is very good at mucking up the paint at both ends. I'll take that over Green's uneven, wimpy play in his 23 mediocre minutes a game. There are plenty of guys who can give you 9.8 points off the bench in 8.6 shots shooting 42%, while barely rebounding or assisting. There aren't a lot of guys who can do what Perk does, which is defend the post one on one, box out, and provide a consistently physical presence at both ends of the court.

Did you watch Perk last year in the Finals? Did he muck up or be a consistently physical presence at all? And are you under the opinion that the Celtics couldn't find plenty of guys that will give you 4 and 5 on 47 percent shooting, while barely rebounding, assisting, blocking shots, etc.?

I started my post by saying I watched almost every OKC game this season. That's a pretty good indicator that I watched them when they made the Finals.

Perk was playing the final three rounds of the 2012 playoffs with a partially torn groin. Instead of getting credit for gutting out the playoffs with a serious injury, he gets derision for not playing better.

Perkins seems to be moving around pretty well this season> Perkins detractors seem to think he gimps around the court with a cane or something. I wonder how many detractors actually watch a lot of OKC games. Perk does their what he did in Boston - set picks, play defense, box out, and muck up the paint. If you don't think Boston needs that kind of player, you don't understand NBA basketball.

I also don't think Perkins' $8.3m is too outlandish a contract. The deal does look a little gristly in it's final year, but that's the case with most players on their third contract. Moving Perk without a certain replacement, for a backup SF, was a mistake.

Maybe when OKC is in possession of the Larry O'Brien Trophy the Perkins detractors will finally give him his due. He's an essential cog on a team with two superstar players, one emerging uberfreak big, and a bunch of solid role players. Perkins is an acknowledged leader of that team, and should get some credit for that.

Basketball is a very synergistic game. Perkins, and to a lesser extend, TA, BBD and Powe, were important role players on the Celtics, guys who were very tough, who played hard all the time. When teams played the Celtics, they new they were going to be in for both a physical battle and an offensive barrage. This year's team is as soft as tissue paper, and shows no toughmindedness or toughness.

At the beginning of the KG era, the Celtics bigs would put the opposition through a meat grinder nightly. KG and Perk were very physical, and when they sat, Powe and BBD would come in and throw their bodies around. This allowed the Cs to battle teams with solid bigs, like Detroit and LA.

The Cs have nothing but an aged KG and an inexperienced, undersized Sullinger as real paint players now. It's a fatal flaw on this team.

Perk is very good at mucking up the paint at both ends. I'll take that over Green's uneven, wimpy play in his 23 mediocre minutes a game. There are plenty of guys who can give you 9.8 points off the bench in 8.6 shots shooting 42%, while barely rebounding or assisting. There aren't a lot of guys who can do what Perk does, which is defend the post one on one, box out, and provide a consistently physical presence at both ends of the court.

Did you watch Perk last year in the Finals? Did he muck up or be a consistently physical presence at all? And are you under the opinion that the Celtics couldn't find plenty of guys that will give you 4 and 5 on 47 percent shooting, while barely rebounding, assisting, blocking shots, etc.?

I started my post by saying I watched almost every OKC game this season. That's a pretty good indicator that I watched them when they made the Finals.

Perk was playing the final three rounds of the 2012 playoffs with a partially torn groin. Instead of getting credit for gutting out the playoffs with a serious injury, he gets derision for not playing better.

Perkins seems to be moving around pretty well this season> Perkins detractors seem to think he gimps around the court with a cane or something. I wonder how many detractors actually watch a lot of OKC games. Perk does their what he did in Boston - set picks, play defense, box out, and muck up the paint. If you don't think Boston needs that kind of player, you don't understand NBA basketball.

I also don't think Perkins' $8.3m is too outlandish a contract. The deal does look a little gristly in it's final year, but that's the case with most players on their third contract. Moving Perk without a certain replacement, for a backup SF, was a mistake.

Maybe when OKC is in possession of the Larry O'Brien Trophy the Perkins detractors will finally give him his due. He's an essential cog on a team with two superstar players, one emerging uberfreak big, and a bunch of solid role players. Perkins is an acknowledged leader of that team, and should get some credit for that.

Basketball is a very synergistic game. Perkins, and to a lesser extend, TA, BBD and Powe, were important role players on the Celtics, guys who were very tough, who played hard all the time. When teams played the Celtics, they new they were going to be in for both a physical battle and an offensive barrage. This year's team is as soft as tissue paper, and shows no toughmindedness or toughness.

At the beginning of the KG era, the Celtics bigs would put the opposition through a meat grinder nightly. KG and Perk were very physical, and when they sat, Powe and BBD would come in and throw their bodies around. This allowed the Cs to battle teams with solid bigs, like Detroit and LA.

The Cs have nothing but an aged KG and an inexperienced, undersized Sullinger as real paint players now. It's a fatal flaw on this team.

Unfortunately post injury, Perkins is the caliber of a bench big man. He's the only thing they've got so they go with him or Collison. His minutes have steadily gone down as the year progresses.

All of things above in your post that I bolded, are great qualities, and I won't argue with them. But this team needs more than that. Jermaine Oneal on one leg was more productive than Perk was last year. Heck, we should go get JO from Phoenix now his knees are fixed. Perks PER is under 9, JO's is 19 this season while being paid 854,000 dollars.

Perks knees have ruined his career and they'll probably be the reason why the thunder won't win a championship. Intangibles are great but for 9 million a year a starting center should be rebounding, blocking shots and at least catching the ball. He's just pathetic at times.While Jeff Green hasn't been the brightest spark or lived up to expectations, there's obviously room for potential as time goes on- he's 26 and recovering. Perk is already falling and crashing from his ceiling. He can't rebound, he can't block shots, his hands and footwork are terrible and he has no life. You're talking about him boxing out but that's not post injury Perk, look at his rebounding numbers and the +/- of the Thunder when he's on the floor.

As I said earlier, Perkins before his injuries was amazing.Pure grit and balls. Unfortunately we got something before he walked away because no way was Danny paying him 9 million.Can you imagine if Perk were on 9 million now on this team?That would be an EPIC FAIL. If you think Jeff Green on 9 million is bad, what about Perk with his 8.71 PER, 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 points.

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'This is the Boston Celtics. We aren't about just making the playoffs, or selling tickets. We are about NBA championships and there's an important legacy at stake here'.

I think Perk needs to remain as a starter for his team to get good value out of him. As a power based (slow footed) defensive center, I think Perk's defensive skill-set is largely wasted coming off the bench. He needs to be matched up against the type of players you find in starting lineups rather than against bench players. If matched up against bench players, he'd lose a lot of his defensive value as a man-to-man defender.

So I think Perk needs to stay in the starting lineup. I think any calls to remove him from it would harm OKC more than help them. Oklahoma should continue to start Perk but consider him a low minute starter (20-24mpg) and be prepared to adjust his minutes accordingly when facing a power based big man (28-32mpg) or more of a quick footed / perimeter bigs (15-20mpg).

I would only move Perk to the bench in a playoff series (not regular season) where the matchups were really against him. Like in the Finals against Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat. I think Perk is fine against Miami if they continue to start Udonis Haslem instead of Shane Battier. Otherwise, Nick Collison should get the nod. A quick footed defensive center who can better matchup against a big like Bosh + play help defense away from the basket.

Perk is very good at mucking up the paint at both ends. I'll take that over Green's uneven, wimpy play in his 23 mediocre minutes a game. There are plenty of guys who can give you 9.8 points off the bench in 8.6 shots shooting 42%, while barely rebounding or assisting. There aren't a lot of guys who can do what Perk does, which is defend the post one on one, box out, and provide a consistently physical presence at both ends of the court.

Did you watch Perk last year in the Finals? Did he muck up or be a consistently physical presence at all? And are you under the opinion that the Celtics couldn't find plenty of guys that will give you 4 and 5 on 47 percent shooting, while barely rebounding, assisting, blocking shots, etc.?

Oh we can find a guy who averages 4 and 5 on 47 percent shooting, while barely rebounding, assisting, blocking shots, etc.? Then why in the world are we starting a guy who averages 0 and 2 and 5-6 fouls?

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When you lose, the easy part is to see who gives up. Giving up is very simple. You basically take your stuff and walk away. To continue to work and to continue to compete is one of the most difficult things, especially when you really don't have anything - KG

Perk is very good at mucking up the paint at both ends. I'll take that over Green's uneven, wimpy play in his 23 mediocre minutes a game. There are plenty of guys who can give you 9.8 points off the bench in 8.6 shots shooting 42%, while barely rebounding or assisting. There aren't a lot of guys who can do what Perk does, which is defend the post one on one, box out, and provide a consistently physical presence at both ends of the court.

Did you watch Perk last year in the Finals? Did he muck up or be a consistently physical presence at all? And are you under the opinion that the Celtics couldn't find plenty of guys that will give you 4 and 5 on 47 percent shooting, while barely rebounding, assisting, blocking shots, etc.?

Oh we can find a guy who averages 4 and 5 on 47 percent shooting, while barely rebounding, assisting, blocking shots, etc.? Then why in the world are we starting a guy who averages 0 and 2 and 5-6 fouls?

That still doesn't justify his gargantuan contract. Though, in a way, we could argue if Jeff Green is playing worthy of his very similar contract, as well.

Perk struggled in the Finals (Chris Bosh) but he played a pretty significant role in getting Oklahoma there in the first place.

Perk was very valuable defensively against the Los Angeles Lakers (Andrew Bynum) and the San Antonio Spurs (Tim Duncan).

Duncan killed him. It was when they went smaller and started running the Spurs off the court that they got back in the series.

Luckily for the Thunder, Ibaka has taken his game to another level with his jumpshooting which might get them over the hump.Perk continues to regress and is just killing them at times.He's basically an interior defender that sets screens. A rich man's Jason Collins for 9 million a year.

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'This is the Boston Celtics. We aren't about just making the playoffs, or selling tickets. We are about NBA championships and there's an important legacy at stake here'.

I think there are better players out there then Perk with way smaller contacts, and I think that Jeff Green's double figure scoring off the bench (plus having a backup for Paul Pierce) is more important to us then Perk would be.

I'd rather Dalembert or Brendan Haywood, both of whome can be had for cheap and would give us at least as much as Perk would.